Device for lifting bricks and the like



July 18, 1950 A. H. RICE DEVICE FOR LIFTING BRICKS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 17, 3.945 4 Sheets-Sheet l T INVENTOR.

J 1446A l/JP/CE BY awfiumam H1 ran an! July 18, 1950 c 2,515,666

DEVICE FOR LIFTING BRICKS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 17, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

IQ Z ALBA P165 @4114, GmvZ/fim July 18, 1950 A. H. RICE 2,515,666

DEVICE FOR LIFTING BRICKS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 17, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

BY ALGA M78145 RTroe/vey! July 18, 1950 Filed Aug. 17, 1945 A. H. RICE 2,515,666

DEVICE FOR LIFTING BRICKS AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

Patented July 18, 1950 nnvlon FOB; LIFTING anions Am THE LIKE v Alba H, Rice, Mansfield, Ohio Applicati n A u t 7, S r al. Nofilfll l lz 16 Qlaims. 1

This invention relates to a deviceinthe nature of a grab or a pair of tongs for lifting ai -stack of brick or similar material as a unit. It is of the t pe wherein-there is a p ir of jaws havin means to engage opposite sides of the. bottom layer of the stack of brick or similarmaterial,

the jaws being carried by mean ad pted to b suspended from a cable and the cable operating to force the jawstightly against opposite sides of the stack of material asvthe cable starts to lift the device.v

The general object of the invention is to provide a machine of the type mentioned Whil having ample strength for the stresses encountered shall be comparatively light and simpleflin construction and inexpensive in manufacture. a Another object is to provide inthe device manually operated means for eiiectively clamping the jaws against opposite sides of the stack preliminary to the action of the lifting cable. A further object is to provide simple means actuate by the lifting cableto tighten the grip of the jaws on the load. Still another object is to pro- .vide means for maintaining the jaw in their separated or idle condition;notwithstanding lifting or lowering ofthe device by the cable to position it. l

A preferred embodiment of the machine is illustrated in the drawings hereof and hereinafter more fully described, and the essential novel features are set-out in the claims,

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an end elevation of my lifting device in the open position ready ior application to a stack of bricks 'indicated in broken lines, the lifting portion of the device being abnormall spread apart in this view for clearness of illustration; Fig. 2 is an end elevation showing the device after the manual clamps have been operated to clamp the jaws against the lifting cable; Fig, 5 is a transverse section along the axis of the tightening device, as indicated" by either of the lines designated Eon Fig, 3;

.Fig. 6 is an approximately horizontal cross-section to the manual clamping device, the plane of the section being indicated by the line 6--6 on i Fig. 2.

My device provides a pair of clamping jaws adapted to be lifted by means at their. upper ends and provided with means at their lower 1 ends to en age the lower layer of a pile of bricks- Each jaw comprises a. base bar "1. ada ted to xt nd orizontally nd bear aga nst oonosi e es of the br ck sta k ind cat d. at A), a pair o upri h iaw a s II or it extendin u wa dly m the. base b r and a too bar 13 paralle with the ase her nd secure to the low bar near their u per nds, he e ten bars. bein shown as flanged and bo ted n plac -v Each jaw ar is formed at its upp r nd with an eye I4 loosely surrounding a supporting'shaft m, as. he na ter xpl ined, A sh wn n t drawin the eyes. a ma e by clip double n v hornse ves, thei a ms 15- bcins se ed to. oppos t des of th jaw bar I! o IL 1 Moun ed. on each. shait 20 be ween thetwc yes I of t e j ws s a preadin device ope ated by th li tin cab e dapted to sprea the ppe ends o th ja s. aparth s act o forces th ower s nward y b reas n o intermediate tying c nnecti n located above the s ack o bricks to be lifted and between the jaws,

as shown he spreading d v ce comnrises a central rotary am 21' o the haft and a pair o o p sed seating member .2 a o s rrounding th sh it. Each seat n member h r idly connected to it, anang brack t 23 w ich exte d o n ardly and then out a d as of 24, "Th outw d, portion is bifurcated and straddl s th upper nd o th corr spo ding jaw b r,- This p vents he seati g lcicr b v 2. from rot ing hi i 1 tre o m re. utwardly y p ration o th centra member 21. OlJtSi Q of he ey of each jaw there is mounted on the shaft a h lical compression spring 25 co pressed be w en a asher 26 rest ng agai st th eye and a suitable abutmen (i ustra ed by a a her and tter p n 2 n he en p rti n o the. shaft, The e sprin s. therciorclltendio keep he eyes n conta t w th the bra ket The cent alcam member 2! and e ch of th seating memberszz are of t e icon h wn in Fig. 4.. Each mem r 2 a flat outerince while its. inne fac i omposed o wo elica surfaces 28 each extending or half a ci le thus leaving an abrupt radial plane 19 diametric of the m mber sepa ating he two h lica urfac Sir i arly the mo able cam memb 21 t opposit faces tonnes with t o s iral s m' .J cu ar races 3.1.1 increasing in the som ci cular direction and s parated b di le triclane Each o the double aced central block ,2! is. provi ed wi h a rigid ope ating arm 32 ex endhe toward th cen er o t e m chine- E r mance of ons u tion-the i 1 hle=facei oom with flat adjacent faces as shown in Fig. 5, and the arm 32 may be a plate extending between these faces and about the shaft 20, the two members 2| being then bolted together through the arm as indicated at 33 in Fig. 5.

The two cam-operating arms are spaced apart at their inner ends as shown on Fig. 3 and each arm is connected by a link 34 to a cross head 35 to which the hook B of a lifting cable-may be attached. It results from this construction that the upward pull on the cable swings the arms 32 upwardly and causes the cam block 2| to spread to blocks 22, the effect of which will be hereinafter explained. The cams are normally maintained in their idle position by springs 36 attached thereto and to a suitable anchorage below the eyes. I find it convenient to use as the anchorage a suitable bar I which is provided for another purpose as hereinafter explained.

Secured to the jaw bars [2 on one side adjacent the region where the jaw bar bends (which is higher than the top of the stack of bricks to be lifted), are suitable clips 50, each shown as comprising a doubled strip of metal embracing the jaw bar and extending inwardly therefrom. This clip isshown as clamped on the jaw bar by a screw 5| which also holds a threaded rod 52 having an eye lying between the two portions of the clip I ,7

Secured to the other jaw bars II, in the corresponding location, are outwardly extending brackets 60. Pivoted to each bracket is a manual lever Bl, the pivot being indicated at 62. The manual lever BI is also pivoted to an inwardly and outwardly movable link 65, the pivot to the link being indicated at BB. To the inner end of the link 65 is secured a threaded rod 61. A turnbuckle yoke 68 connects the two rods 52 and 61, one of which has a right hand thread and the other a left hand thread.

It follows from the construction described that when the manual lever 61 isturned upwardly as shown inFig. 1 its movable connectionv 62 with the jaw bar iscarried outwardly: of the pivotal connection 66 to. the turn-buckle link 65 which acts as a strut, and thus thelower ends of the jaws are spread apart, swingingoutwardly about their upper ends as a center. This is the position shown in Fig. '1, which position leaves the device ready to be lowered over a supply of brick to be lifted and to be caused to engage thereafter the bottom-most layer of the brick.

To cause the engagement with the load to be lifted, the manual clamping leversti are, turned downwardly from theposition of Fig. 1 to that of Fig. 2. This carries the pivots B6 of the jaw bars to theoutside and'clamps the lower ends of the bars I Uagainst the'bottom layer of brick. Each bar it) preferably has a facing 69 of rubber or other yielding material to enable a non-slipping e'ngagement with the, brick. It will be seen that the operation of 'the two manual levers causes an effective preliminaryclamping of the lifting device tothe load.

Now when a lifting stress is applied to the ,cabl e hook l3 the cam arms 32 are swung upwardly about the axes of the shafts and the cam blocks 2| spread the cam blocks 22, forcing the upper ends of the jaws outwardly and compressing their springs. This action puts stress on the turn-buckle tie connection and tends to swing the lower, end of the "jaw bars inwardly, thus effecting atig hteningoffthe clamping action. Thisaugments the manual clamping cffected by the hand levers SI and clamps the lead so tightly that the entire stack of bricks may be readily lifted as a unit.

If desired, each of the brackets 60 secured to the jaw bars I I may be a strip of sheet material doubled on itself about the jaw bar, as indicated in Fig. 6. The arm 6| may also be a doubled sheet metal member, as shown in that view, and likewise the link 65 may comprise two bars side by side. In such case the two bars may be secured by rivets 66 to the corresponding arms of the doubled hand lever 6|, while these hand lever arms may be pivoted to the bracket 60 by a single through rivet 62, all as shown in Fig. 6. This is illustrative of a simple means of providing the bracket, link and lever in a light and economical form, but if desired the parts may be made in other manner and members of single thickness provided in place of doubled arms, as will be readil understood.

It is desirable that means be provided whereby the lifting cable attached to the hook B may lift the device without swinging the jaws inwardly, to enable it to be positioned with its jaws spread on opposite sides of the load. To effect this, I provide a pair of brackets 10 each pivoted at H to one of the jaw bars l2 and having a pin and slot connection at 12 with the other jaw bar ll. Mounted in the two brackets 10 is a rotatable rod 15 carrying a pair of hooks 16 each adapted to hook into an eye or opening 38 on the lower end of the linking links 34. When the hooks occupy these links in their lowermost position the links may not be moved relative to the jaws and, hence, the cam spreading mechanism is ineffective and the lifting cable may lift the whole device without causing the jaws to approach each other.

To make the application of the restraining hooks 16 automatic, I provide a pair of links 11 each connecting a rock arm I8 on a bar 15 with the corresponding manual lever 6|. When the levers are turned up to idle position to spread the jaws, the hooks are swung into engagement with the link eyes 38, as shown in Fig. 1, and in this condition the lifting hook B may lift the whole device without changing the approach of the jaws. When, however, the levers 6| are thrown down to effect clamping of the pile of brick as shown in Fig. 2, this automatically swings the restraining hooks 16 out from the lifting links, so that the upward movement of the lift hook B swings the cam arms and spread the upper ends of the jaws to force the lower ends into tightened position.

, Itwill be understood from the description given that my lifting device is comparatively light and readily transported from place to place as desired by an attached cable-hook B. When the device is supported idle, the hooks 16, in the cam operating links maintain the jaws spread apart at their lower ends, so that the device may be readily lowered by the supporting cable in position with reference in an interposed pile of brick or material to be lifted.

When the device is in position it is merely necessary for the operator to adjust the turnbuckles, if necessary, and to force downwardly the two manual levers controllin the manual clamping. This brings the jaw blocks tightly into an engagement with the lower end of the lower layer of brick and the device is ready for raising, the same movement freeing the restraining hooks from the cam arms. As soon as an upward pull isapplied to theliftinghook B it raises the cam arms more or less and spreads the QJH 5, 668

8 cams as to take up any slack and provides a clamping of the jaws against the brick.

The turn-buckles allow an adjustment of the jaws with reference to each other for different widths of stack to belifted, and the yielding facing on the inner sides of the bars l0, allow some leeway in the clamping. The result is thatthe device may be very readily adjusted for the particular pile of brick to be lifted and easily clamped thereon by the operation of the manual levers and then lifted by the cable attached to the lifting hook with the assurance that the entire stack will remain intact, and may be lifted and transported at will. i

I claim:

1. In a device for lifting a stack of brick or the like, the combination of a suspensible frame in cluding a pair of shafts, a rotary cam on each shaft, 2, pair of jaws suspended from the shafts, seats against which the cam faces act and which in turn act against the jaws to force the upper ends of the jaws outwardly when said rotary cams are rotated, and means whereby the outward movement of the upper ends of the jaws causes inward movement of thelower ends to clamp the load. s i

2. In the device for lifting a stack of brick and the like, the combination of a pair of movable jaws provided at their lower ends with means for engaging a load to be lifted, a tie between intermediate regions of the jaws, said jaws being provided at their upper ends with eyes, a pair of shafts each occupying two eyes of opposed jaws, a pair of, rotary cams on the shafts respectively, adapted to force the eyes-outwardly as the cams are rotated, each cam having an inwardly projecting arm, and means connectingthe two cam arms and adapted to be raisably engaged by a lift hook.

3. A combination of a pair of jaws provided at their lower ends with means for engaging the load to be lifted, a suspensibl'e device carrying the jaws, an intermediate clamping device acting on the jaws to swing thelower ends inwardly while tight the upper ends are substantially stationary to effect a preliminary clamping of the load, and means on the suspensible device for spreading the upper ends of the jaws while the clamping device acts as a tie to prevent spreading of the intermediate region of the jaws, thereby tighten the clamping of the lower ends againstthe load, means for attaching a lifting cable, an operating connection between the spreading means and the means for attaching a lifting cable whereby the upward pull on the lifting: cable may operate to spread the upper ends of the jaws, and means connected with the clamping device fortrendering the spreading means idle-when the clamp is idle. s i i i 4. A combination of a pair of'jaws provided at their lower ends with means for engaging a load to be lifted, said jaws being provided with eyes adjacent at their upper endsyapair of shafts oc cupying said eyes, rotary double faced cams on said shafts, seats for the cams adapted to be engaged and spread thereby against the {eyes to spread the upper ends of the jaws; springs on the shafts on the outer sides of the jaws normallyretaining the jaws against the cam seats, said rotary cams having inwardly extending arms, lifting mechanism having links engaging the arms whereby the two arms may be turned up as a unit to operate the two cams to spread the upper ends of the jaws, and means forming a tie between intermediate-regions of the jaws to force the lower'ends into clamping relation to the load when the upper ends are spreadby the double faced cams. i

5. In a device for lifting a stack of brick or the like, the combination of 'a pair of jaws each comprising a pair of upright jaw bars, a horizontal bar at the lower ends thereof adaptedto engage theload, and a brace bar between the jaw bars adjacent the upper ends thereof, said jaw bars being each provided with an eye adjacent its upper end, a pair of transverse shafts loosely occupying an eye of the two jaws, rotary-cam mechanism mounted on the respective shafts and adapted to bear against the eyes and spread the jaw bars, each cam mechanism having an inwardly projecting arm, means for attaching a lifting cable to the two cam arms, a pair of adjustable links connected respectively to the two bars of one jar, levers pivoted to the correspond- "ing bars from the other jaw and pivoted to said links, whereby the levers may adjust the distance between the load engaging bars, a pair of brackrets carried by the two jaws, a rock shaft in said brackets, hooks on'the rock shaft adapted to coact with the cam arms to hold them in idle position, and links connecting the rock shaft with the clamping levers whereby when the lovers cause the jaws to spread at their ends they also look the cam arms in idle position, whereby the device may be lifted and transported from-place to place while in spread condition and thereafter when the clamps are operated to cause the lower ends of the jaws to engage the load the cam arms will be freed so that the lifting of the device may tighten the clamping.

6. The combination of a pair of jaws provided at their lower ends with meam to engage opposite sides of a load to be lifted and each having eyes adjacent its upper end, a pair of shafts occupying the eyes of the opposed jaws, rotary cams on the respective shafts having inwardly extending arms, a member adapted to be attached to a lifting cable and connected to both cam arms to rotate the cams as the cable lifts the device, movable cam seats on the respective shafts between the cams and the eyes on the jaws, whereby the cams force the upper ends of the jaws outwardly as the device is lifted, and an intermediate device between the opposed jaws to cause the inner ends of the jaws to move inwardly when the upper ends move outwardly, said intermediate device comprising a link adjustable as to length and anchored to one of the jaws, theother end of the link being connected to a lever which is connected tothe other jaw, whereby the lever may cause jaws including a turnbuckle to adjust the length of theconnec'tion and including also means-for lengthening the connecting means without disturbing the turnbuckle, and means for spreading the upper ends of the jaws.

8. The combination of means adapted to be suspended from a lift hook, a pair of inwardly depending jaws movably carried thereby, the lower ends of which are adapted to engage a load to be lifted, actuating means operatively associated with the lift hook abutting the upper endsef the jaws and adapted to spread said ends out- Lwardly, and adjustable means connecting with said jaws intermediately thereof to cause the lower ends to effect a clamping action against the load when the upper ends are spread, and means operating on said connecting means for spreading the lower ends of the jaws independently of the adjustment of the connecting means.

9. In a lifting device, the combination with a suspensible mechanism of a pair of depending inwardly movable jaws carried thereby, cams mounted in the suspensible mechanism and movable to act against the upper ends of the jaws to spread said ends outwardly, means adapted to be connected to a, lifting cable for so moving the 'cams, a manually operable clamping device cooperating with the intermediate regions of the jaws and including an operating member to force the lower ends of said jaws inwardly to effect a preliminary clamping of an interposed load, said means acting as a tie to cause tightening of the clamping action between said lower ends and the load when the upper ends of the jaws are spread outwardly, and means coacting with the clamping means and the cam operating means for maintaining the jaws in open position and preventingthe operation of said cams while the device is being lifted or lowered.

10. A combination of two pairs of jaws, the lower ends of which are adapted to contact a load to be lifted, means adapted to be suspended from a lifting cable and carrying the jaws adjacent their upper ends, said means including a pair of transverse shafts on which the jaws are slidably mounted, a pair of rotary cams on said "shafts acting against seats bearing against the upper ends of the jaws, and levers on the cams adapted to be connected to the lift hook of a hoisting cable for rotating said cams when the cable lifts the device.

11. The combination with suspensible mechanism of a pair of jaws depending therefrom, means connecting the two jaws together in intermediate regions thereof, means for adjusting the length of said connecting means, means for changing the position of one end of the connecting means relative to the corresponding jaw without disturbing the lengthwise adjustment of said connecting means, and means for spreading the upper ends of the jaws.

12. The combination of a pair of longitudinal frame members spaced apart, two pairs of depending jaws, each pair located substantially in a vertical plane transversely to the longitudinal frame, a pair of movable cams between the frame -members adapted to act against the upper ends of the jaws and move them outwardly, lever mechanism between the frame members adapted to be connected with a lift hook and operate the respective cams to spread the upper ends of the jaws and means acting intermediately on the jaws to cause the lower ends to move inwardly when the upper ends are spread.

'13.,The combination with suspensible mechanism for a pair of depending inwardly movable jaws, manually operable clamping means acting on intermediate regions of the jawsto force the lower ends inwardly while the upper ends act as an anchorage, and a pair of movable cams oper- 8 I ated by the lifting cable and acting outwardly against the upper ends of the jaws to spread the upper ends while the manual clamping device acts as a tie between the jaws to force the lower ends inwardly, and means operated consequent upon the movement of the manual clamping means and coacting with the spreading means for holding the spreading means idle.

14. In a lifting device, the combination with a suspensible frame of a pair of depending inwardly movable jaws carried thereby, mechanism mounted on the suspensible frame and adapted to be operated by a lifting cable to spread the upper ends of the jaws, tying means connecting intermediate regions of the jaws to cause the lower ends of the jaws to move inwardly when the upper ends move outwardly, mechanism including a manually operable lever for lengthening said tying means to spread the lower ends of the jaws, locking means for the first-mentioned mechanism, and a connection between said lever and said locking means.

15. The combination of a frame adapted to be suspended by a cable, two pairs of jaws movably carried by the frame, an intermediate tie between the jaws of each pair causing the lower ends to move inwardly when the upper ends move outwardly, a double faced cam engaging inclined surfaces on the inner faces of the upper ends of the two jaws of each pair, and a pair of levers operated by the lifting cable and connected to the respective cams for moving said cams to spread the jaws.

16. The combination of a suspensible frame, two pairs of jaw-bars movably carried by the frame, intermediate ties between the jaw-bars of each pair causing the lower ends to move inwardly when the upper ends move outwardly, two double-faced cams movably mounted on the frame and each located respectively between the upper ends of the two jaw-bars of each pair and bearing against such upper ends, a pair of levermechanisms operating the cams, and means connecting the two lever mechanisms adapted to be operated by a lifting cable for actuating said cams to spread the upper ends of'the jaw-bars.

ALBA H. RICE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: v

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 16,646 Mitchell May 31, 1927 322,813 English July 21, 1885 654,931 Aiken July 31, 1900 1,134,466 Laframboise Apr. 6, 1915 1,144,387 Skelton June 29, 1915 1,192,504 Crum July 25, 1916 1,216,362 Richards et a1 Feb. 20, 1917 1,413,225 Hemstreet Apr. 18, 1922 1,503,347 Brunes July 29, 1924 1,573,263 Madden Feb. 16, 1926 1,577,347 Neumann Mar. 16, 1926 2,107,189 Schmid Feb. 1, 1938 2,275,074 Carr Mar. 3, 1942 2,378,570

Mitchell June 19, 1945 

